Monday, June 18, 2007

So this is the 100th post (you have to dig way deeper than blogger lets you check) and there's no better way to celebrate than by doing...pretty much exactly what we've been doing. So that's your programming note for today. Also, Jed's full of shit - check the bottom of his "Ms. Watson, Ms. Cabrera..." post. Now to The Morning After.

Angel Cabrera, your favorite portly Argentine, is your champion over the weekend at the 107th United State Open. It was, all in all, a lackluster day for the golfers but Cabrera, who went ahead and shot a +2 over the last three holes (and who can blame him?), staved off the likes of Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods to claim his championship. The highlight for me was watching Paul's pick, Aaron "Badds" Baddeley on the first hole. Because if I were up three strokes on Tiger on Sunday in a Major Championship then the first thing on my list of things to do is triple the first hole. Yes, that is the plan. Lure Tiger in then snatch him in a bear trap and win the major.

Naturally that didn't happen and Badds had a pretty "Badd" day (see what I did there) and shot 80 en route to a "who cares" finish.

But here's my question, and stay with me here. Jack Nicklaus won 18 Major Championships in his playing career, a mark I think Tiger Woods will likely break in the next 10 or 15 years (and anyone who says 15 years is too long, look at what happened on Sunday, when everyone assumed, myself included, that it was Tiger's to lose...the field is starting to catch up). In 8 of Jack's 18 championships, he did something Tiger Woods has yet to do: come back on Sunday. Tiger Woods may be the best closer of his generation, but Jack is the greatest closer of all time. If Tiger doesn't have the 54-hole lead at a Major, it's getting close to a guarantee that he and Steve won't be hugging and crying on 18. It will happen eventually, but for now Tiger is Oh-fer his career.

The other stat about Nicklaus is almost as daunting. He has been the runner-up in Major Championships 19 times. 19! You figure he shaves five strokes off of those 19 Sunday rounds and Jack could have had 22+ majors, a mark that's so much more untouchable than his 18 it's astounding.

Anyway, there's a little food for your golf thoughts this morning. With no golf worth covering, no basketball worth watching (though the same could be said about the Finals) and NFL training camps months away, it's going to be a pretty lean couple of weeks for everyone. But look at it this way: maybe ESPN will show that Jeremy Schapp piece (that sounded wrong) about Bobby Fischer a couple of times. That would be great.